In Regards to Towels
by TheOddGod
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy is ready to settle in for a night of storm watching from his bedroom window when he is informed that someone has arrived at his home. And the person in question is the last person he would expect.
1. Chapter 1

This was the last thing he had ever thought would happen to him. With his parents gone for two weeks on a vacation to Brazil, he had thought he would have some time to himself. There was a pile of books he wanted to read, not to mention the idea of getting a head start on the textbooks for the upcoming school year. Between Quidditch, his social life, and studying for the upcoming N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year he was already questioning how he would keep up with his regular studies.

Then the storm rolled in and he knew that none of that would happen. He would bring a book with him to his windowsill, but he would end up simply staring out the window at the deluge and lightning. There had always been something about powerful thunderstorms that drew him. Perhaps it was simply the idea of such unbridled power and the entirety of the world being at their mercy. That helpless vulnerability that he felt even within the confines of the manor. He had carefully built his life to protect himself from such forces, natural or otherwise, learning quickly from the mistakes of his father. After such turmoil and darkness that had sprung forth all around during his predecessors years at Hogwarts, Scorpius certainly did not want to follow suit. He had to live up to his father's expectations of redeeming the Malfoy name and reputation. He had to be the ideal student, the ideal man, and he had taught himself from a young age to avoid things that could threaten that.

So he had not been settled in his sill for ten minutes, starting to be drawn into the chaos that was the storm before Skilt, the family house-elf popped into the room behind him. Glancing at the small creature irritably, Scorpius waved his hand in impatient supplication of what was so important as to bother him. He supposed that since his parents were gone he was 'in charge,' but he had certainly hoped that nothing dire in the kitchens or any messes in the hallways would disturb him.

Skilt bowed sharply, blinking at him apologetically with his large eyes, "Skilt is sorry for bothering the master, but…but there is someone at the door, sir. And they are very wet…dripping all over the floor. Skilt will clean it as soon as they are gone, sir."

Scorpius stared blankly at him for a moment, causing the house-elf to start trembling slightly. Once he started muttering apologies, Scorpius snapped out of his dazed state, "Who would be here at this time of night?" Even as he was asking it, however, he was on the move. Without thinking, he grabbed a few items of clothing before starting out of his room, the house-elf following obediently. It was not even necessarily 'who' had arrived, but why. The storm was in full swing and no one in their right mind would have ventured so far out of the way to the Malfoy Manor at this time of night while that was going on. It was either something extremely important, in which he may have to contact his father on holiday, or it was someone who was completely bonkers.

He swiftly descended the stairs, even as he heard the telltale 'pop' of Skilt apparating to the foyer ahead of him. Running a hand through his hair, Scorpius took a small breath to steady himself before rounding the corner into the foyer.

What he saw stopped him dead in confusion.

She stood there with her arms crossed tightly in front of her, shaking slightly as the water dripped from her hair and clothes, pooling around her sneakers. She was looking around at all of the heirlooms in the foyer and he merely stared in shock for a few moments before she realized he was there. When she saw him, she gave a wary, polite smile of greeting.

"Hello, Scorpius."

He cleared his throat and mentally shook himself, frowning as he responded, "Good evening, Rose. May I ask why I'm being graced with the pleasure of your presence in my house?"

He supposed he could have been a bit more pleasant in his delivery. There was certainly a note of coldness to his tone that he hadn't necessarily intended to be there. After all, it wasn't as if he hated Rose Weasley…he just didn't really have a reason to like her either. She was practically a stranger besides the fact that she had made a distinct point of either avoiding him or being outright hostile at certain periods throughout their years as classmates. Which made him all the more curious as to why she was at his house, of all people's, on a night such at his.

She winced a bit, but regained her composure well, "Well, I'd love to answer you, but…" she gestured to herself, still shivering slightly, "I was wondering if I could borrow something dry to change into first?"

"Oh, right…" he mumbled as he quickly held out the bundle of random clothes he had grabbed. He wasn't even sure what he was handing her, just that all of the items were dry. He pointed through the doorway, "If you walk straight down the hall the bathroom is the first on the left. I'll…" he paused awkwardly, glancing around for Skilt, "I'll, uh, grab you a towel. I don't think that bathroom has any."

Looking back to her, he was surprised to find Rose smiling warmly at him. An instant later she was gone, sloshing down the hall, her sneakers making pitiful noises as they squelched across the marble floor. He blinked in stunned surprise for a moment after she closed the door before turning around and snapping his fingers loudly. Skilt appeared an instant later, bowing profusely. Quickly, Scorpius asked for him to bring a towel before the house-elf could utter any more apologies for disappearing.

When Skilt left, Scorpius moved toward the door and peered out the windows next to it at the storm, rubbing his face tiredly. There was nothing outside. No mode of transportation that Rose could have used to get to his house. Did someone drop her off? Had she walked here? With a small groan, he turned around just in time for Skilt to pop back into view holding out a bright green towel. Great, now Rose would assume he was trying to assert some sort of Slytherin dominance over Gryffindor.

"Thank you, Skilt," he said quietly as he took the towel and was surprised a moment later as the house-elf squeaked in surprise at something behind Scorpius and instantly apparated away. Turning around, the youngest Malfoy understood why.

Rose Weasley was padding into the foyer, hands wringing out her red hair casually while wearing nothing but one of Scorpius' button-down shirts. He blinked, felt the heat rise swiftly to his cheeks and opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again as nothing was able to process.

She glanced down at the towel, "Are you going to gawk all night or give me the towel?"

He felt slightly better as he noted the flush that was present on her cheeks as well. He cleared his throat awkwardly, looking down at the floor and holding the towel out to her. "Sorry…I guess I didn't grab enough clothes."

She giggled nervously, "Yeah, all of them were shirts and this one was the longest so…"

He nodded, before turning around and summoning Skilt again, "If you could grab a tee-shirt and some flannel pants for Ms. Weasley, that would be wonderful." In a few moments, Skilt was back again and Rose was scampering quickly back to the bathroom. This time, Scorpius rubbed his face with both hands, trying to get the image of the scantily clad Weasley out of his head. His father had warned him about how much the Weasley's hated the Malfoy's and Scorpius had done his best to just avoid them altogether. It was safest that way to avoid any tensions or potential hostilities. He'd never pictured Rose Weasley as anything other than a creature to be expressly ignored.

With that recent image flickering behind his eyelids, all he knew was that ignoring her was now going to be a bit harder to do.


	2. Chapter 2

He waited patiently for a few minutes as she changed once more. When she came back out, the flush was almost gone from her cheeks again. Awkwardly, she held out her sopping clothes before glancing up to meet his gaze, "Could I maybe get these dried or something? As comfy as your pajamas are, I'd prefer my own clothes."

The corners of Scorpius' lips twitched as he glanced at her, standing in the oversized clothes. He could only imagine how much it was bothering her to be accepting so much hospitality from _him_ of all people: a Malfoy. The glimmers of a smirk disappeared, however, as he remembered she still hadn't told him why she was here in the first place. Skilt popped out of nowhere, grabbed her clothes quickly, grumbled something about puddles, and then disapparated once more. Scorpius found himself chuckling quietly before he rubbed his eyes and turned on his heel toward the den.

He heard her clear her throat behind him and he paused to glance back at her. She lifted her palms up, "Uh...where are you going?"

Rolling his eyes he lazily gestured for her to follow, "I don't really feel inclined to stand awkwardly in the entryway with you anymore. And Skilt will have my head if I keep him from cleaning up your mess any longer." He could sense Rose wanted to argue, but a few moments later he could hear her feet padding reluctantly after him. Moving through an adjoining hallway, they came into the den. It was one of his favorite rooms, second only to his own, and he would prefer talking to Rose in a territory he felt completely at ease in. And his room was_ not_ an option. Ever. He felt his lip twitch in the beginnings of a grimace as his mind started to recall the Weasley as she had been only a few minutes ago.

Ever. Never ever.

He heard the quiet, rebellious part of his mind whisper slyly_, Never say never_.

Shaking his head slightly to clear his head again, he automatically padded across the room to sink into his comfy chair. Only when he was good and comfortable did he let his eyes focus upon the redheaded intruder once more. Rose was still standing in the doorway, her eyes wide as they took in all the books that surrounded the room. He fought down a small smile as he remembered seeing the room himself after his father had renovated it.

Prior to this, the mansion itself was quite...cold. Scorpius barely remembered it, seeing as his father had started changing the rooms soon after he was born. The den had been saved for last, however, and was a surprise for Scorpius after completing his third year at Hogwarts with flying colors. Everything in the room had been designed for him and he had found that the shelves always managed to have enough space for more books.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he realized there were eyes on him. Waking out of his reverie and wiping the wistful smile off his face, his eyes snapped sharply to Rose's and her's retreated immediately.

She cleared her throat quietly and quickly turned her back to him, moving about the room to look more closely at the books, "This room is fantastic..."

He blinked at her back, not quite sure where to go with that. No hostile retort? No cold regard? Who was this girl in his house and what had she done with the aloof, angry girl he had practically grown up avoiding?

He sighed, "Rose..."

She turned her head slightly, acknowledging that she had heard, but she didn't respond right away. Her hair was starting to dry more and the curls were falling loosely down her back. He could just see the curve of her cheekbone and the dark length of her lowered eyelashes in that moment and he again wondered where this apparently soft creature had come from after all of the times she had treated him like some sort of vile..._thing_, so beneath her regard.

Scorpius leaned his head forward and pinched the bridge of his nose. Merlin did he need to sleep. His brain was not working well enough to process all that was going on right now.

He heard the quiet movement of fabric as she settled into the chair across from him. Lifting his eyes, he watched her as she stared at her hands awkwardly. It was then that he realized she wasn't going to tell him anything. At least not anything important or necessarily even true. She had shown up at his house, expecting...no _relying_ on the fact that he was raised to be a good, hospitable host. After some of the things she had said when they were much younger, he found that fact in itself pretty amazing.

Finally, she lifted her gaze, bringing him focus again on the fact that whatever she was going to say wasn't going to be all of it. Meeting her eyes, though, he knew that, whatever it was, it wasn't anything good. There was pain there.

She bit her lip for a moment as they regarded each other in silence then, taking a steadying breath, she started, "Okay...so...I know it's really random I showed up out of nowhere..." She paused, as if expecting a snarky comment on his part. When it didn't come she went on, "But, some things happened and I had to get out of the house. I mean," she lifted her hands up quickly to run them through her hair in agitation, "I had to get away for a little while. And...I didn't want anyone to come finding me. So," she lowered her gaze to her hands again, "I thought of the one place no one would come looking for me."

Scorpius lifted his eyebrows, "So you came here. To my house. Where you just assume that I'll let you stay."

Her eyebrows knitted, but she didn't look up. "I know." It came out in a quiet, pathetic tone. There was silence for a few moments as he watched her. With a deep breath she looked back at him, her eyes pleading with him, "But I also know that you're a good person and you wouldn't just throw a girl back out into the rain, right?"

He scowled slightly at her, "That's asking a bit."

With a small snort, she rolled her eyes, "No, it's not. You're parents aren't home and this house is big enough you probably wouldn't even know I was here."

His eyes widened a fraction, "Wait...how long are you proposing I let you stay here?"

Her form shrunk down a bit in the chair, "Uh...I was hoping a few days...a week at most. I swear!"

Blinking at her, Scorpius tried to process this. The girl had _purposely_ come to _his_ house with the intention of not just hiding out for a night, but an _entire week_? He frowned at her, "Is it that bad?"

The look of surprise was followed by a small instant of pain before she closed her expression off again, "Maybe."

With a sigh, Scorpius shook his head and stood up, "How the hell did you even get out here? We're in the middle of nowhere. Malfoy's don't like unscheduled visits, you know."

He heard her giggle slightly and he glanced back at her in the chair. Grinning, she gestured outside, "I stole my grandpa's car and it died about a mile down the road."

"You know how to drive muggle cars?" He had known that Arthur Weasley was still extremely interested in muggle artifacts, but he hadn't realized he had bought another one and then taught his children how to operate it.

She full out laughed then, her face lighting up, "Oh heck yeah! Mom taught Hugo and I when we were younger. She insists on us being in touch with our muggle heritage. Drives Dad bonkers..." She trailed off and turned away from him for a moment. Scorpius watched the back of her curls for a moment before sighing and walking out of the room back into the hallway. After a few moments he heard her yelling, "Oi! Where do you think you're headed? This place is too big and I'll get lost!"

He tossed his retort back over his shoulder at her, "I thought you promised I wouldn't even know you were here."

After a moment of quiet, he heard swift footfalls and he turned around to see her hurtling at him. With a small exclamation of surprise, he felt her run into him, arms wrapped around his waist tightly. He stumbled backward with the momentum, but kept his balance and then tried to figured out his situation. He couldn't help the small warmth that reached his cheeks as he became aware of just how many clothes she had given to Skilt to wash and that she was _really_ hugging him. He patted her back awkwardly as he cleared his throat, then he carefully pulled out of her embrace, not looking at her as he turned away again.

"Right..." he said, coughing again, "I'll tell Skilt to get the guest room ready for you as we go."

When he glanced back at her as she followed him quietly up the stairs, she was looking down at the steps with a small smile on her lips and a small flush of red still lingering across her freckled cheeks.


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting in the sill of his window once more, Scorpius found his mind quite in synch with the roiling clouds outside. Instead of the occasional strike of lightning, however, he felt as if his thoughts were getting distracted by the rumbling thunder that were the echoes of everything that had just happened. There was too much to process and he was honestly too tired to try and make his brain focus too explicitly on any one train of thought. All he had really established while watching the wild weather through the pane of glass was that Rose Weasley was in his house, she was going to be staying, and he was completely unsure of how he was feeling about any of that.

Absently, he breathed warmly onto the glass and drew a question mark into the quickly receding fog. As if he had channeled all of his confusion into that small movement, exhaustion really overtook him and he felt a jaw-cracking yawn escape from him. Rubbing his face roughly, he unfolded his legs from the sill and swung them over the side to stare into the dimness of his room. The random flashes of lightning that streamed in from the rain-lined window was enough to illuminate the straight path to his bed. It was calling to him and he allowed himself to be pulled in at it's seductive beckoning.

Scorpius slid off his shirt, tossed it onto the floor, and then tossed the covers back as he crawled in. He made a point of laying on his side so as to continue to view the torrents flowing down the window pane. Wild and unexpected, that was what he loved about storms. They were uncontrolled and left one at their mercy. If certain individuals hadn't popped into his foyer, there was a chance he would have even went outside and stood in the rain for a time to feel the electricity and power around him.

Wild and unexpected...just like Rose Weasley showing up at the manor.

He growled as he found his thoughts turning back to her again. Unexpected described her visit to a tee. Wild...well it _was_ pretty wild to see her in nothing but his button-down...

Another sound of discontent escaped him as he rolled over away from the window and scrunched his eyes shut. Unsurprisingly, this did not help his case at all as images sprung up unbidden from throughout the night. Her hair wet and cascading down her shoulder as she reached out for a towel. The way she had looked in the den when he had glimpsed her angled profile as she acknowledged his speaking of her name. The pain that flashed across her face when he was inquiring about her visit.

With a sigh, Scorpius pulled the covers up further across his chest and he opened his eyes to stare into the darkness. Sleep was already tugging at his mind, but he had to think of a game plan. Ignoring all of the other images, he focused on the pain, desperately trying to figure out what could have happened that would have caused such a normally bold and outspoken girl to become evasive and quiet. So many ideas ran through his mind, none of them pleasant and, most likely, none of them quite right.

But he knew where he would find the answer he was looking for. It would have to wait until tomorrow morning, though.

With his mind made up, he settled further into his bed, closed his eyes, and drifted into soft dreams of red curls and storms.

* * *

Waking up early in the morning, Scorpius threw on his running clothes, grabbed a small granola bar, and then took off for his morning jog. The morning air was crisp and did more to wake him up than anything else could. It was pleasant to have his mind focus on nothing but the entire experience of running. The breaths pumping in and out, his feet hitting the ground and pushing off, the way the small breeze ran through his hair in an attempt to keep him cool. After about an hour and a half, he had a good sweat going and turned onto the final stretch that would lead him back to the manor.

He slowed to a walk as he reached the drive, his eyes roving over the perfectly manicured courtyard with a comfortable familiarity. Pushing open the door, he stripped off his shirt as he walked through the foyer before launching himself up the stairs to head to the bathroom connected to his room. After a good long shower to rinse off, he toweled off his hair, a smile rising to his lips unbidden as he remembered Rose trying to dry her own the night before.

Shaking his head, Scorpius then threw on a t-shirt and some comfortable sweatpants before heading back downstairs for some breakfast. As he padded into the kitchen, he found a small breakfast waiting for him and the rolled up _Daily Prophet. _Pushing the paper to the side for a moment, he couldn't resist glancing at it speculatively as he dove into the food. It was a sort of battle that he was trying to decide how to win as he watched the moving pictures across the front page. The headliners weren't what he was looking for however and, in the end, curiosity won out.

Reaching out eagerly as he munched on a small bun, he started scanning the newspaper methodically. He wasn't quite positive on what it was he was looking for, but he knew he would recognize it when he saw it. There were columns on how best to magic your hair, defensive magics that were being tested and approved, as well as a few occasional minor scandals within the wizarding world.

He found it on the bottom of the fourth page with a small picture of a smiling Weasley and a slightly larger article that made it obvious that what had happened was not thought to be of much concern.

An image of the pain flashing behind Rose Weasley's eyes flashed within his field of vision again and he knew just how wrong the _Prophet_ was.

* * *

The night had gone by with uninterrupted and, surprisingly, restful sleep. She had woken up to the quiet sound of footsteps and, blearily emerging from the pile of comforters she had cucooned herself in, she had moved to the window of the guest bedroom as she heard the doors open and close. Glancing down it was to see Scorpius taking off at a steady jog and she watched him until he turned a distant corner and was gone from view. It took her a moment to realize she was smiling softly at the thought of Scorpius Malfoy doing something so...muggle-like.

She couldn't help it, though. Rose had grown up hearing about how prejudiced the Malfoy's were about those that weren't 'pure,' and thus she had never before associated Scorpius as anyone with near human qualities. She winced as she turned away from the window, allowing herself to silently acknowledge she hadn't really given him much chance to change her own prejudices.

Last night alone had changed everything she thought she knew about Scorpius Malfoy. Obviously, she had heard he wasn't all that bad from classmates and he seemed politely quiet in the joint potions classes they had shared over the years, but she had never quite let go of the stories that her father and Uncle Harry had told them over and over about the monsters that were the Malfoy family. She had shown up to his manor fully expecting to be turned away, ignored, or put up coldly and with hostility. Instead, all she had received was polite welcome and wary kindness.

She moved to the door of her room, shaking her head of the strange confusion that was resulting from the overload of new data. There was exploring to be done of the manor since she was already awake. She spent the next hour or so going from room to room and marvelling at everything that the Malfoy residence possessed. It was nothing like described in the stories she had been told as a child. This place was warm, welcoming, and expertly furnished. Even where the dungeons had been, there was now room after room lined with books, trinkets, and maps. Everywhere she looked, her fingers itched to investigate, but she didn't want to stumble onto something that she wouldn't be able to fix if something were to go wrong. Her mother _had_ instilled intellectual caution into her daughter after all.

Finally, she had returned to the den and was heading toward the foyer when she heard the door open again. In anticipation of greeting him, Rose jogged forward and peeked around the corner...and that was where all thoughts of speaking disappeared.

She'd known he was attractive throughout their school years together, she supposed, but she hadn't expected Scorpius Malfoy to be _built_. Her eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly in shock as she watched him take his shirt off and walk past without seeing her. She even felt daring enough to step out into the foyer to watch his back as he moved swiftly up the stairs.

Had she just seen that?

She could only imagine how many members of the Slytherin...no, scratch that, _Hogwarts_ female population would have died to witness that.

Her father had always described Draco Malfoy as skinny and, well, ferret-like. She had met the older Malfoy before and knew he possessed a more lean build than anything, but she had not been expecting his child to be so...athletic.

Rose realized her face was burning and she hadn't moved from the spot in the middle of the foyer in the five minutes that Scorpius had disappeared into his room. She glanced to the left only to see the house elf from the night before wearing a small, green apron and watching her with a distinctly disapproving look. In an instant, she took off up the stairs at a dead sprint and then shut herself quickly into the guest room. This was all too much.

She had come here looking for solitude and escape from the chaos that was currently her life and all that being here was doing was mixing everything up for her even more. Running a hand through her hair in agitation, she wandered over to the floor-length mirror that rested on the other side of the bed. With a sigh, she stared at her rumpled appearance defeatedly.

Rubbing her eyes, she mumbled, "Rose...what in the bloody hell are you doing here?"

Taking a few more moments of silence in which she could not find an answer, she turned to start getting better prepared for the day. She found clothes set out for her, a toothbrush in the connected bathroom, and essentially everything she would need to look presentable for her stay, however long it would be.

When satisfied with her appearance, she made her way nervously out the door again, not sure if she was hoping or dreading to see Scorpius walk by in a towel after taking a post-run shower. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about it as she saw nothing of the blonde boy as she made her way down the stairs. The house elf popped into existence next to her, causing her to startle a bit before he ushered her forward and around a few corners.

Finally, she emerged into the brightly lit kitchen where she was confronted by a very clothed Scorpius who was mundanely eating breakfast and reading the paper. Granted, it was the _Daily Prophet_ and had moving pictures, but she was struck once more how _odd_ it was to see him in such ordinary routines.

She cleared her throat quietly, "Uh...good morning?"

He looked up at her and in that instant she knew.

How had she forgotten about the _Prophet_ so completely?

Of course her family would call. And with their influence in the Ministry, they sure as blimey hell would get some sort of article in there. And that would just be the start.

Her hands flew to her mouth, "Oh my gosh."

Scorpius stood slowly, as if not to startle her.

She hated the tears that started pricking her eyes as he moved toward her. By the time he had reached her, they were starting to trail down her cheeks, and all she could do was stare at him as he gently reached for her, pulling her into him.

Willingly, she folded into him and she felt his hands lightly rest on her back as he quietly whispered the same thing over and over.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. So sorry..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Oh, my gosh guys! I am amazed by how much you all are involved in this story already! This all started in response to a drawing I did and I am literally making it all up as I go along. With the all the love, though, I'm trying to at least solidify the plot more than I had before, so hopefully everything ends up flowing together well. I'm still nailing out plot details and everything, so let me know if I start doing something horrible! Also, I want to apologize for the sporadic updates...life is a bit crazy, but I'll try to not leave you hanging TOO much. :)

Again, thank you all SO much, and I hope you all continue to read, review, and enjoy the story!

~OddGod

* * *

She avoided looking at Scorpius, pretending to be engrossed in the process of pushing food around on her plate. She wasn't sure how long they had stood there, him holding her lightly and her crying into his shirt. After a while, her sniffles had died down and she was grateful when Scorpius removed himself knowingly from around her and busied himself with getting her some food to eat. So, after making herself eat something, she now felt the awkward tension rise up between them as he turned another page of the _Daily Prophet_, though she was pretty sure that he had reread the entire paper three times by now.

Including the piece she knew was in there about her grandfather.

Finally, the quiet became too much and she pushed her plate away from her with finality. She felt him glance up from the paper and she couldn't help but meet his gaze. Pinned by those pale eyes for only that moment before they lowered again to the paper in front of him, she swallowed nervously, knowing what he wanted, but unsure if she could provide it. Especially considering how her brain had become quite sluggish under that brief, intense look.

Maybe she really _had_ picked the perfect place to come to get away from everything after all. She had been worried earlier about being overwhelmed by all her new discoveries from just last night, but now she was thinking it was a hidden treasure. Scorpius Malfoy was definitely giving her brain something to think about. He was just so…_different_ from what she had imagined.

She examined the way that the morning sunlight streaming in through the tall windows lit up his already pale hair, as if the world was trying to convince her he was some sort of angel, rather than what she had grown up thinking. He certainly didn't _look_ bad or evil or even remotely ferret-like, as his family was described by her own. In fact, she was finding she certainly didn't mind the way he looked at all.

A frown found its way to her lips as she realized he was watching her with a small smirk, well aware of the fact that she was openly staring at him. Her eyebrows drew down and she turned her gaze from him to take in the kitchen. It was filled with light and reminded her a lot of her mother's kitchen. Clean, bright, and warm. She almost expected her mother to wander in at any moment and ask her if she wanted her to make anything.

The sound of the paper being folded up tore her out of her foolish daydream, and she returned her gaze to Scorpius. He tilted his head and watched her for a moment as he folded his hands on the counter in front of him.

"Look, I'm fine if you don't want to talk about it, but…if you ever need anyone to chat with, I'm here." He cleared his throat for a moment as he glanced around, "I mean, not that you have many people around here to choose from. Unless you'd prefer Skilt, but I doubt he would have the patience to listen."

She felt the small giggle bubble up unbidden from her as she pictured the stern looking house-elf in the little green apron once again. She shook her head, "I don't think he likes me much."

Scorpius smiled warmly at her, "Don't take it personally. He's not really a fan of many people. I'm lucky he hasn't tried to take over the manor in my father's absence."

She appreciated what he was doing for her, changing the subject and giving her space. Distracting her from the situation. With a small sigh, she rubbed the side of her face, "Scorpius…I just…"

He stood up abruptly, giving her a small smile, "Let's go find out what we can do about your vehicle, shall we? I'm sure you don't want it left out on the road for much longer." Rose blinked at him stupidly for a moment before remembering that she had, in fact, left her grandfather's car out in the storm last night. "I'll go change out of my sweatpants and meet you in the foyer in five." With that he was gone, padding silently out of the room. She didn't even hear as he went up the stairs.

Staring after him for a moment, Rose felt a small knot of relief at not having had to talk to him about the situation…yet. She knew it was going to happen sooner or later. In fact, she was surprised he hadn't tried to push her. She had seen the curiosity in his eyes and was pretty sure he wasn't very accustomed to having to wait to get what he wanted.

Shaking her head, her hands reached out warily to grab the paper that was abandoned in front of her. Carefully unfolding it, she felt the dread seep into the pit of her stomach again. As if before now it wasn't quite real, but once she read the article, it would be. Reluctantly searching the pages, she finally found it, almost hiding on the bottom of the fourth page. She felt her eyes sting as she saw the picture next to the article.

He was laughing in the picture, his hair slightly receding now, but his eyes just as bright as in his youth. The title of the article screamed out at her in bold letters, 'MISSING MINISTRY OFFICIAL.' She made herself read the short article that was written by her own mother about her grandfather's disappearance. It was short, succinct, and had just the right amount of pleading for information. Rose swiftly shut the _Prophet_ and wiped at her eyes, not wanting Scorpius to return to find her crying again, before getting up and leaving the paper behind.

She needed time to let her mind settle and process everything. She needed time away from the insanity that had been her family for the past week. She had to be able to not worry about her parents, her grandmother, her brother for a little while. It might have been selfish to leave, but she had to get herself settled first.

Then she would be on the hunt.

But she needed time.

* * *

The walk was quiet. Scorpius wouldn't say he minded, but it was quiet in the way that there were so many words hanging in the air. He didn't know what to say and she didn't seem up to breaking the silence, so he merely left it. Instead he let his mind wander to the road they were walking on. He had thought about pulling out the broom and flying, but he only had the one and it would take forever for her to 'accio' her broom to the manor. So, instead, he had opted to walk.

It was a relatively nice day out with the sun shining on them. The crispness of the morning had burned away and the late summer temperature was pretty pleasant. He knew pretty soon autumn would be here and then he would be away from this open space to the crowded halls of Hogwarts once more. He had exchanged only a few letters with some of his friends, but otherwise he took the summer months to really get a relaxing break from dealing with people.

No matter where he or his family went, there were looks and whispers. Everyone recognized him as a Malfoy the instant they laid eyes on him and that immediately held its own connotations. After the fall of Voldemort, his father had struggled terribly to redeem himself. He had fought tooth and nail to gain his position in the ministry and had to continue to fight to keep it. He had raised his son to know the value of himself, no matter the whispers or the rumors, and to fight hard to get what he wanted. His father always said that when he was young he had always expected everything to be given to him and he had been torn apart because of that because he had never learned how to gain things for himself. Scorpius had been raised to be grateful for the things he had and when to learn to keep his mouth shut.

Scorpius couldn't say that he had had a hard time at Hogwarts. There definitely had been moments, of course, where others would insult him or his family. In the beginning there had been a few unsanctioned fights as a result of an attack against his father, but he had learned to reign in his temper. He remained fairly removed from others and tried his best to stay out of the rumors and gossip mills that existed throughout the school. He had found as he grew older those he had gone to classes with had slowly dropped the nasty insults and the wary looks as he proved to be nothing like his predecessor had been when he'd walked those same halls.

He had people who liked him, professors who commended him for his schoolwork, and he had worked bloody hard for it.

"Uh…Scorpius?"

He shook himself and glanced over at and concerned looking Rose, "Er…sorry. What?"

She laughed a bit, "I was just saying that the car is right up there." She glanced at him curiously, "What were you thinking about?"

He grinned slightly before shaking his head, "Nothing important." He couldn't even begin to think of how to explain to Rose Weasley how he had been raised and how he had been shaped. She already had her preconceived ideas of who he was, though…she seemed more open to learning about him now. She could find out by action, though. He wasn't going to deem her with the open book of his life when she'd never asked any questions before.

They stopped as they came in front of the car. Looked like a standard muggle vehicle…which meant he knew nothing about it. He glanced sideways at Rose, who was looking at the thing with an irritated expression.

"So…what exactly happened with it?"

She shrugged, "It just died. I was going down the road; it started sputtering, and just…died." Frowning, she moved forward and did something the cab of the car to pop the front of it up. He watched with fascination as she went and stood in front of it, staring down at the multitude of parts. Looking at it, Scorpius was just baffled as to why muggles would build such a complicated contraption. It seemed completely inefficient.

He and Rose exchanged a look and he grinned at her, "So…teach me about muggle cars, then."


	5. Chapter 5

"What?"

Rose tried to process what Scorpius had just said, aware that her knowledge of cars was far from complete. In fact, she barely knew anything. All she knew for sure was essentially where to put the gas in, how to turn it on, where the lights and windshield wiper switches were, and how to drive it. She instinctively knew that Scorpius was asking for much more than that. From her time sharing classes with him, she had gathered that once he became interested in knowing about something, he did not pursue it halfway. He always aimed to be an expert in whatever it was they were learning about.

It was one of the things that maddened her most about him throughout their time in school. Her father had always made a point to tell her to beat the 'Malfoy brat' in everything, but he had never informed her of how difficult it would be. Scorpius had always kept her on her toes and it was a constant battle for supremacy. Honestly, it had certainly not endeared him to her at all growing up and now faced with his thirst once more she was finding herself quite dismayed.

Scorpius gestured toward the silent vehicle, "Teach me about it. What makes it run? What are all...," he gestured under the hood, "these things?" He shot her a sidelong look, "Unless you don't know, that is..."

Her eyes narrowed at him sharply, ignoring the slight heat that ran across her cheeks, "Of course I know. I wouldn't be operating the blasted thing if I didn't know how it worked, would I?"

She was well and bloody screwed.

She started with the basics like wheels ('Well I know what _those_ are, you dolt. We use those all the time. Specifics! What are they made of?'), the steering wheel ('Yes, yes, I get the gist, but how does it manage to actually move the wheels? And don't say 'magic.''), and the headlights ('...well how the bloody hell do they actually get light to come out of those things? Are there little flames in there?'). It certainly did not take Rose very long to realize that she didn't actually have to _know_ any of the answers at the moment. If she used a bit of creative thinking, Scorpius would be none the wiser and she would not have to deal with incessant teasing about (Merlin forbid!) not knowing something.

After all, how often after this incident would he really be exposed to cars? Probably never, and if he was, they would most likely be some sort of enchanted thing that wouldn't run like the regular muggle ones did anyway. So...everything was a win-win.

* * *

An hour later, Scorpius was sitting on the gravel road they were on, still watching her just as intently as when she'd started her in depth explanation of every aspect of a car. Sadly, it was long ago that she had really abandoned even attempting to make things sound plausibly muggle-like. It was tedious and slightly boring to try and explain how the various motorized mechanisms worked, so she added a bit of creative flair. Essentially, she had been spouting nonsense for quite a while and, really, was starting to feel a bit ridiculous.

"...and that's the gravity controller. It allows you to take sharp turn very fast without fear of flipping the car." She stared at the nondescript metal part under the hood for a moment, imagining how great that would be if it actually existed. After a moment, glanced over at him and saw him watching her thoughtfully. Clearing her throat with discomfort, she turned back to the open hood and glanced over everything quickly. "And…I think that's it."

He grinned at her, "Already?"

With a small shrug, she sighed, "What can I say? There are only so many parts…"

Scorpius stood and moved up beside her to peer under the hood for a moment. She watched him carefully, trying to gauge what was going on behind those pale eyes as they swept over the multitude of metal contraptions. She found it slightly amusing that most muggle men found cars irresistible and here she was standing with a typical wizard male specimen who knew next to nothing about them.

'Though he's not really what I could call 'typical'…' she thought absently before frowning sharply and turning her gaze pointedly back to the car in front of them.

Finally, Scorpius glanced over at her with a signature smirk, "So…how much of what you told me was made up?"

Rose felt her cheeks flush and she glared at him, "Are you calling me a liar, Mr. Malfoy?"

Lifting an eyebrow, Scorpius straightened before giving her a stern look, "Why Ms. Weasley, accusations of lying are very serious offenses. Don't you know what we do to liars around these parts?"

She suppressed a grin at his response, feeling a playful flutter in her lower abdomen. Putting a hand on her waist and cocking her hip out, Rose gave him a cheeky once over, "I've heard a thing or two, but…I doubt you could do a thing to me, darling."

In an instant, his demeanor changed and she felt the entire atmosphere around them shift. She felt her heart jump a bit in surprise at how the air between them shifted from banter to coiled heat and she felt the previous flutter melt into a low warmth.

His return once over was anything but cheeky, "Oh, I could think of a few things...sweetheart."

He leveled a lazy smirk at her before turning away to move around the car and glance in the passenger side window, leaving her to stand there for a moment to process what had just happened. Her heart rate was raised a bit and she couldn't ignore the flush that had raced across her cheeks as soon as he had leveled his eyes on her. The look in them had been…intense. She had no doubts now as to why Scorpius Malfoy was regarded as one of the most sought after boys at Hogwarts, and that was after pointedly forgetting having seen him shirtless only that morning. Rose felt as if she had been dangerously close to a pleasurable burn and her mind was taking a few moments to catch up.

"I guess I can't blame you for lying, though…the thing became far more interesting when you started making things up," he stated from his current position as he examined the dashboard intensely through the window.

She stared at him for a moment, at once trying to calm herself down and process the sudden shift back to normalcy. What was wrong with this kid?! Did he not realize what had just happened?

They had been _flirting._ She had just been _flirting_ with _Scorpius Malfoy_. Her father would kill her. _His_ father would probably kill him, based upon their history. There would be general mass killing of Malfoys and Weasleys if anyone found out.

What was even more appalling was how much she'd enjoyed it.

She couldn't give in to the strong urge to scream in horror in front of him. So, instead, she took a deep breath, got her brain running logically again, and moved over to stand a decent distance from him. Running her hand through her hair in unvoiced agitation, she tried for a small grin, "Uh…thanks?"

"No problem," he mumbled absently as he straightened to wander to the driver's side door. Opening it up and sliding into the seat, he looked intently at the gauges, "So…what's that clock with the F and the E?"

She sighed, trying to push what had just happened out of her mind and moved over next to him. Peering toward the one he was indicating, it took her a moment to register that it was the gas gauge and that the needle was well below the E.

"Oh, hell," she growled before resting her head defeatedly against the frame of the car door. Closing her eyes she pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to breathe. How had she been so stupid?

Scorpius cleared his throat quietly, "Uh…I take it it's something bad?"

She cracked her eyes open to glance sideways at him, "It's a gas gauge. It tells the driver how much gas you have left in the tank."

"Ah," he said before falling quiet and contemplating the gauge in question, "Oh. So the E…"

"…means empty."

"And without gas the car doesn't work?"

She stood up, "Precisely. I can't believe I didn't pay attention to it…"

He shrugged as he looked up at her, his expression softer than she had expected, "You were upset…things happen."

Rose stared at him for a moment in silence before turning away to go slam the hood shut. They walked back to the manor without speaking and the quiet was anything but comfortable. She couldn't bring herself to care, though, as she had too much to process already without adding more to her plate. She needed to be alone, she needed to be able to think, and she didn't need the distraction of Scorpius Malfoy keeping her from that.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello all! Just wanted to apologize for the long wait on this chapter. Senior year of college has started (eek!) and I'm trying to get caught up in everything. Hope you guys are still liking the story and keep giving me feedback! I love to read it!

~TheOddGod

* * *

He'd read the same line about thirty times now and Scorpius still hadn't absorbed any of the words. With a quiet, frustrated sigh, he plopped the book onto his lap and leaned his head back against the chair. It had been about three hours since Rose had stalked ahead of him and into the manor, disappearing up the stairs and to her room before he even had a chance to ask her if she'd want lunch later. Instead, he had just stood there staring at the empty staircase and mentally berating himself.

Blimey, he should have known better than to flirt with _Rose Weasley_. This was the girl who had despised him since they had started school together, whose entire family (including the extended) would love to have the whole lineage of Malfoy's gone from the world. Honestly, how had he expected her to react?

Rubbing his face, Scorpius growled, "That's exactly the point, you idiot. You didn't _think_." Tossing the book haphazardly onto the coffee table, he stood and paced for a few moments. He had never had to worry about who he flirted a bit with before now because, as a general rule, he didn't have to worry about the person trying to murder him in his sleep later. But _now_ he had an angry Weasley upstairs who was probably trying to plot his untimely death.

Steeling himself, he took a quick breath before moving to the staircase. A few moments later and he was outside the guest bedroom, his hand poised to knock. There was a moment's hesitation, but his choice was made for him when the door opened.

Rose looked at him in surprise, "Oh. Wow. Guess we had the same idea..."

He gave her a small smile before rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah...seems so." Clearing his throat, he finally shrugged, "Look, Rose. I just wanted to...apologize about...earlier. I wasn't thinking and didn't intend to offend you in any way...so...I'm sorry. I'll be more aware of my conduct from here on out."

She stared at him for a moment, blinking. Then, slowly, he watched as a grin spread across her lips and she started giggling. Yes. _Giggling_. Now it was his turn to blink at her, frowning in confusion until she finally composed herself again, her right hand lifted to lightly cover her still-present grin of amusement.

After he lifted an eyebrow in silent supplication, Rose finally said, "Sorry. It's just...yeah, we were _not_ thinking anywhere along the same lines." With a small shake of her head, she continued, "I mean...in regards to _that_...well..." He watched with curiosity as pink tinged her cheeks and he fought the urge to smirk a bit at her, knowing that would be completely contradictory to what he had just said to her, instead remaining silent until she spoke again. Taking a deep breath, she met his eyes, "I mean, whatever. It was entertaining and...dare I say it?...even a bit fun, _but_...let's just agree to have you save your charms for the girls at school and I'll save mine for the boys there, alright? Saves everyone the awkwardness and the possibility of family massacre, eh?"

With a small chuckle, Scorpius nodded, "Precisely what I was thinking. Less bloodshed."

She shot him a quick nod before glancing down the stairs, "Now, I'm hungry and I want to talk to you about _my _thing now, if that's alright, so I'm thinking...kitchen."

"Fine by me," he said, turning slightly away from her before stopping. He glanced at her with a smirk, "Oh and Rose?"

Lifting her eyebrows, she met his eyes.

He just couldn't help himself, "When we're back at school, won't you be included in that 'girls at school' group?" She stared at him, her mouth opening slightly with no words coming out. Nodding, his smirk widened, "Just thought I'd ask." With that, he turned and walked casually down to the kitchens, calling for Skilt and asking for some sandwiches.

* * *

Rose appeared in the kitchen a few minutes later, shooting him a small scowl, but refusing to comment on his previous question. He hid his grin from her as he turned to wipe at a nonexistent spot on the counter. Hearing the stool pull back, he turned back around and took his own seat right as the quiet 'pop' of Skilt apparating made the elf's presence known. The small creature placed two delicious sandwiches in front of them before bowing and taking a small step back.

Scorpius was about to thank him when he noticed the house-elf glaring pointedly at Rose, who was doing her best to avoid the creature's gaze. Clearing his throat, Scorpius nodded, "Thank you for the sandwiches, Skilt. Is that all?"

Turning his huge eyes to Scorpius, Skilt bowed again, "All that needs to be done is done." And with that, he popped away again. Glancing at Rose in curiosity, the redhead merely shook her head and gave him a look that said 'don't ask.' For once, he didn't push it.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Rose finally set her sandwich down and clasped her hands in front of her. "Look. I just wanted to make my own apologies for earlier. I was..._am_ still trying to...figure everything out and it just gets really...overwhelming." She started picking at the counter, not meeting his eyes, "So, between Grandpa missing, you being all...you, and me being an idiot with the car I just got a bit caught up in everything and...well, I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry if I seemed angry. It wasn't _you_ I was mad at. Just me and this whole bloody situation."

Scorpius nodded quietly, watching her hands as they traced lines on the counter. He could see how 'him being all him' could contribute to the confusion that seemed to be her life at the moment, he supposed. After all, she had probably grown up with stories about his father in school and through the War and that had tainted her inherent opinions on all of the Malfoy bloodline...though as a general rule his family seemed to lean more toward a multitude of deranged dark wizards, he had to admit.

Then there was the missing grandfather aspect that she still hadn't explained to him. He wished he could give her some sort of wise insight into how to handle such a thing, but he fell short in that area. He had never had a missing grandparent, only the passing of his grandfather when he was very small and too young to truly grasp what had happened. Still, he wanted to comfort her or help her in some way, but his mind was blank.

Finally, he shot her a small smile, "Hey, I get it. There really isn't any need to apologize for any of that. You're having a bit of a rough time of late."

She gave him a half-hearted grin, "Understatement of the century."

He leaned forward, picking up his sandwich again, before saying, "But, I like to think that 'me being me' isn't _quite_ so terrible as all the rest, so you've got that going for you. Imagine you showing up and me kicking you out like any 'Evil Malfoy' would do." He emphasized 'Evil Malfoy' with finger quotes before taking a bite of his sandwich.

He got a small laugh out of her, so he counted it as a small victory. She tilted her head and regarded him for a moment, the smile lingering on her lips, "I suppose I didn't expect to find you so...normal."

Pointing at her, Scorpius corrected, "You mean 'likeable.' Normal isn't always a nice thing."

Shaking her head, she gave a mock sigh, "I can never win!"

With a wink, he retorted, "Get used to it, lady," before popping the rest of the sandwich in his mouth.

Before she could respond there was a distinctive scratching noise to her right and she glanced to see a small, tawny owl at the window, tapping for entrance. She blinked in recognition for a moment and Scorpius watched as her lips tightened slightly. He saw the reluctance in her movements as she made her way to the window and let the bird in. It hopped in and fluttered onto the counter where it waited patiently, leg extended. Slowly, Rose approached it and untied the small piece of parchment that was attached before giving the owl a piece of her sandwich bun.

Its duties finished and its work rewarded, the bird took off through the window and Scorpius watched as it headed directly upward, most likely to the small, open room that they had at the top of the manor as an owlery. His own owl was probably perched up there sleeping at this time of day and he couldn't imagine Pip being very happy about an intruder.

Returning his attention to the girl across from him, he watched her for a few moments as she simply stared at the still-rolled up paper, as if by not opening it it would miraculously go away. After a few more minutes, she lifted her eyes to meet his.

She twisted her lips and shrugged sheepishly, her eyebrows pinching upward in an adorable way, "I'm scared to open it."

He looked back at the parchment. Not a Howler...

"It's from my mum."

Oh.


End file.
